Update to [1] yesterday's story. Not only is al-Qaeda summoning jihadis from all around the world to rally around them in Afghanistan, but even those in Iraq, indicating, perhaps, that Afghanistan, not Iraq, is their priority. Either that or Iraq is seen as a lost cause. "Petraeus: al-Qaeda fighters may be migrating to Afghan frontier," by Ronert Burns for the [2] AP, July 19:

BAGHDAD — Senior leaders of al-Qaeda may be diverting fighters from the war in Iraq to the Afghan frontier area, the top American commander in Iraq told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Gen. David Petraeus also said al-Qaeda may be reconsidering Iraq as its highest priority war front.

"There is some intelligence that has picked this up," he said in the interview in his office at the U.S. Embassy along the Tigris River. "It's not solid gold intelligence," he added, stressing that the reliability of the information has not been confirmed.

Nonetheless, he cited the signs as part of a broadly positive review of conditions in Iraq, where al-Qaeda fighters have been driven almost entirely from Baghdad and pummeled in other urban areas.

Petraeus said the information was based on human intelligence, meaning informants.